Feeding dosage

My beardie is about 9 months old. His body is 7inches long and from head to tail he is 13inches. Every day I feed him about 5 superworms and then about 13 crickets between the morning and night. All together I spend about $15 a week just in crickets to feed him (not including the superworms and wax worms). This is getting pretty expensive for me as I am a college student. I know my beardies diet is supposed to be something like 80% protein and 20% fruit/veggies but I cannot get him to eat fruit or veggies at all. Every day I cut up fresh vegetables and put them in a food bowl in his habitat and he does not eat them he just poops on them and makes a mess. However, the moment he is offered superworms, wax worms, or crickets he jumps at them and eats them like he is starving or something. Sometimes when I walk away after feeding him he is still staring at me like he wants more. I was told by someone at the pet store that beardies are usually gluttons and I should probably feed mine less crickets; however, from what I have gathered, people who work at the pet store GENERALLY do not know what they are talking about. My question is how much should I really be feeding my beardie a day? A side note is that I always hand feed my beardie. I like to handfeed him because it is fun and I think it is a good way to bond with him. Could handfeeding my beardie lead to over/under eating? If anyone knows of a cheaper alternative to crickets or a cheaper place to purchase them other then a petstore it would be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone knows of a good way to get your beardie to eat fruits/veggies it would also be appreciated. Thanks!

Hi there, can you post a few pics of him as well as his set up ? Here's how :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload

You can get bulk crickets from several reliable places ..
Ghann's crickets, Armstrong, Millbrook, Great Lakes hornworms . All sell crickets as well as other insects. For your guy you could get 1,000 3'4 " crix [ not large because they'd be near the end of their lifespan ]

Or you could buy some large breeder dubia roaches + set up a colony to breed.

Lots of younger dragons won't eat much greens but keep offering them 2-3 X a week, one day he may start eating them.

AHBD":1cnscxy9 said:

Hi there, can you post a few pics of him as well as his set up ? Here's how :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload

You can get bulk crickets from several reliable places ..
Ghann's crickets, Armstrong, Millbrook, Great Lakes hornworms . All sell crickets as well as other insects. For your guy you could get 1,000 3'4 " crix [ not large because they'd be near the end of their lifespan ]

Or you could buy some large breeder dubia roaches + set up a colony to breed.

Lots of younger dragons won't eat much greens but keep offering them 2-3 X a week, one day he may start eating them.

Click to expand...

This is Rhaegal. (Like the dragon from game of thrones)

I agree that ordering bugs online is a good way to go. I used to get 1000 crickets shipped for about $30 and they'd last a month. A dubia roach colony would be easier (quieter, less smelly) to keep too so if you can find one locally on craigslist ready to go that would be a good investment. Otherwise you can start your own colony but it takes several months from scratch. Ordering silk worms and black soldier fly larvae and hornworms now and then is also a good way to vary his diet and help keep him healthy. One bug meal per day all he wants in about a 10 min span should be fine for now. He looks big and healthy so he is probably getting plenty as it is. I would start trying to hand feed some greens to him. It may take a while to build a routine but try collard and turnip greens and see if he'll take pieces of that from your hand. Grating or cutting up squash into worm shapes sometimes gets their attention too. Between 12-18 months old you want to gradually move him to a mostly vegetarian diet.

I have a suggestion for your lighting. It looks like you have a T8 UVB light in a zilla slimline 18'' fixture. Have you removed the clear plastic from in front of the bulb? It's important to keep that off since it will intercept the UVB. That rig also works best between about 6-8'' above the basking area without any screen in front of it so I would use some wire to try and suspend it inside the top and move it over next to the basking bulb so the most UVB is where the most heat is as well.

He looks great, very healthy + alert. Some dragons grow a bit faster, some slower but there's no rush to get him monster sized like some people feel the need to do.He does look longer than 13" in the pics though. Have you had him since he was a baby ?

And what exact type of lights do you have ? It's best to have the heat lamp + the uvb bulb all on the same side so he can digest food while under the hat + uvb at the same time.

And what a beautiful display of colorful veg, obviously prepared with loving care that is so often NOT appreciated by our stubborn ones ! Even pooped on, shameful, lol.

Try some greens instead, turnip, mustard, collard,dandelion,endive,arugula and yellow squash are some beardie's favorites. Oh, I see I was typing at the same time as Cooperdragon.

CooperDragon":25ouukck said:

I agree that ordering bugs online is a good way to go. I used to get 1000 crickets shipped for about $30 and they'd last a month. A dubia roach colony would be easier (quieter, less smelly) to keep too so if you can find one locally on craigslist ready to go that would be a good investment. Otherwise you can start your own colony but it takes several months from scratch. Ordering silk worms and black soldier fly larvae and hornworms now and then is also a good way to vary his diet and help keep him healthy. One bug meal per day all he wants in about a 10 min span should be fine for now. He looks big and healthy so he is probably getting plenty as it is. I would start trying to hand feed some greens to him. It may take a while to build a routine but try collard and turnip greens and see if he'll take pieces of that from your hand. Grating or cutting up squash into worm shapes sometimes gets their attention too. Between 12-18 months old you want to gradually move him to a mostly vegetarian diet.

I have a suggestion for your lighting. It looks like you have a T8 UVB light in a zilla slimline 18'' fixture. Have you removed the clear plastic from in front of the bulb? It's important to keep that off since it will intercept the UVB. That rig also works best between about 6-8'' above the basking area without any screen in front of it so I would use some wire to try and suspend it inside the top and move it over next to the basking bulb so the most UVB is where the most heat is as well.

Click to expand...

Thank you very much for your feedback! I am going to take the plastic off the bulb and move it to the side of the tank with the heat lamp. Thanks!

AHBD":3a6at4xm said:

He looks great, very healthy + alert. Some dragons grow a bit faster, some slower but there's no rush to get him monster sized like some people feel the need to do.He does look longer than 13" in the pics though. Have you had him since he was a baby ?

And what exact type of lights do you have ? It's best to have the heat lamp + the uvb bulb all on the same side so he can digest food while under the hat + uvb at the same time.

And what a beautiful display of colorful veg, obviously prepared with loving care that is so often NOT appreciated by our stubborn ones ! Even pooped on, shameful, lol.

Try some greens instead, turnip, mustard, collard,dandelion,endive,arugula and yellow squash are some beardie's favorites. Oh, I see I was typing at the same time as Cooperdragon.

Click to expand...

Yes, I have had him since he was about a week or two old. This is my first bearded dragon and I love him very very very much. I will just keep offering him fruits and veggies and hopefully he will eventually eat them. Also I will definitely be moving his UVB light to the other side with his heat lamp. The reason I had his UVB lamp on the other side of the tank was because without it that side of the tank is very dark. Should I just get a regular UVA light so that the other side of the tank is not dark? Do you have any recommendations? Thank you very much for the advice!

Can't add much , you and your spiky child are doing fine.

Aim for the UV to give about 180-200 microW UVB / sq.cm at the basking spot and the tube 2/3 - 3/4 the length of the viv .
Here's a guide : viewtopic.php?f=34&t=235611
I'd move the UVB UNDER the mesh lid, that mesh is blocking about 40% of the UV.

Some people install a domestic white light fluoro tube in their vivs to help boost the lumins.

Careful with the mesh hammock , beardies often snag their nails in the mesh and hurt themselves trying to unsnag the nail.